In February, I asked you guys weigh to in on Good Portions, a Pan-Asian fast food place on Lexington btw. 39+40th that I desperately wanted to like.  The one or two dishes I tried there, were not the best- but I thought that somebody must have had one good thing to eat from their extensive menu.  Apparently I was wrong.  Based on the comments, you people didn’t like Good Portions all that much, and based on the sign I saw in the window when I walked by the place today, it appears as if they have closed.  I’ll admit “Sorry we are close… for business” is not as definitive as it could be (does that mean today or for good?), but I’m guessing they’re not re-opening.

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er to get his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Nathan, a Financial Analyst who after 5 years of toiling away in Midtown is moving to Philly, and wanted his Midtown Lunch moment in the sun before he takes off.  (Oh, and yes- that is him posing in front of Morimoto.)

Name: Nathan

Age: 27

Occupation: Financial Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: For the last five years, I have toiled diligently between 50th+57th Streets and between 7th+Madison Avenues

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything Tasty (see below)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: 1) Burrittos - something about the double-starch whammy of rice and tortilla just does not sit well with my palate, 2) Caesar Salad - especially when my co-worker orders it as a “healthy” option, 3) Average or not-fresh sushi

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: 1) The vegetarian lunchbox at Bay Leaf Indian Brasserie (on 56th btw. 5+6th.) Since the dishes rotate on a daily basis, you never know what you are going to get!) 2) The Pad Si Ew noodles, Crispy Pork with Chinese Broccoli and Thai Iced Tea at Wondee Siam II (9th Ave. btw. 53+54th) 3) Beef Tendon with Hot Sauce from Grand Sichuan (on 9th ave., now closed) 4) Swedish Meatballs, Truffle Frites and Homeade Lemonade from F&B Gudtfood (also now closed) 5) Grilled Tofu Steak with Lemongrass from Saigon 48 (48th btw. 7+8th) 6) Beef Empanada, Breaded Chicken with Yellow Rice and Beans from Sophie’s Cuban on 56th btw. 5+6th which has now Morphed Into Tina’s Restaurant, 7) Ramen and Gyoza at Sapporo (49th btw. 6+7th) or Men Kui Tai (56th btw. 5+6th), 8) Lentil or Lobster Bisque Soup at the Soupman (Multiple Locations). Oh- and pretty much everything on the menu at Izakaya Hagi (aka Sake Bar Hagi on 49th btw. 6+7th), but they are not open for lunch.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? I answer with “your co-workers” as the key phrase in the prompt: Blockheads, Chop’t Salad (WAY OVERPRICED), Delmonico Gourmet (and other similar generic delis), The Great American Health Bar, Mangia, Cafe Europa, The Pump Energy Kitchen, Hale and Hearty Soups

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Bon Appetit Pop Up Cafe (Now Gone), Pro Korean (56th btw. 5+6th), FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar (58th btw. 5+6th), Five Guys Burgers (55th btw. 5+6th), Go Go Curry (38th btw. 7+8th), Hallo Berlin Cart (54th & 5th)

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I have not been there yet, but Singapore with its mix of Asian cultures and its gauntlet of hawker stalls.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? One of my favorite dishes is Za Jiang Mein, the Chinese (and also Korean) answer to Spaghetti Bolognese, consisting
of noodles served with a salty black bean / ground meat sauce and garnished with raw vegetables. But I have had trouble finding this dish in New York City, let alone in Midtown. Anybody know of restaurants that feature this dish? Plus- I will be moving to Philadelphia for a few years. Now
that you have read about my favorite New York lunch haunts, do you have any tips on surviving lunchhour in Philadelphia?

So, I don’t know about Za Jiang Mein (the Chinese version) but we tackled the jjajangmyeon question a few weeks ago after I had an ok Korean version at Han Ah Reum (on 32nd btw. 5th+B’way.) There are some good suggestions in the comments of that post. Since then, I had a good (and cheap) version at Shanghai Mong on 32nd btw. 5+6th which I’ll be posting about soon.

As for the Philly thing, that’s a-whole-nother question. Anybody used to work in Philly (or currently work in Philly) and have good suggestions for Nathan? Feel free to post them in the comments.

And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

Slate interviewed lunch’ers eating at Sbarros, McDonald’s and Subway in Times Square for this video about whether or not calorie listings make a difference in what you eat for lunch. Big shock- there’s a Sbarro’s, McDonald’s, and Subway in Midtown! I had no idea.  Even more shocking, nobody seems to care that in some cases the calorie listings aren’t even accurate. (Chipotle I’m looking in your general direction.) 

Watch the video after the jump… Read more »

Oh man.  What are we going to do?  Has it really come to this?  Since Yum Thai closed last year, I have been seriously Thai deprived.  Sure, there are options available- but none are really “Midtown Lunch” worthy (i.e. there is no super cheap, order at a counter Thai food in Midtown.)  If you want Thai, you’re going to have to eat it at a sit down restaurant, or order it to go and take it back to your office.  There are plenty of options to the far west, but not much going on to the East, which is what brought me to Thai-Nam last week; a Thai/Vietnamese combo restaurant on 45th btw. Lex+3rd.

What I got (after ignoring the various red flags) after the jump… Read more »

We all know about Latin food inside a Blimpie, but Fork in the Road brings word of the latest shenanigans going on inside the Blimpie on 46th btw. 5+6th where you can order a not-on-the-menu “Special Vegetarian” sandwich involving doritos and a spicy green chile chutney.  This sandwich is definitely on my list for this week.  Midtown Lunch early adopters, feel free to comment below…

Prefer the Spanish food?  The Latin food that used to be in the Blimpie on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th is now next door sharing space with the Gujarati Indian Steam table and newly opened Taj Delhi Chat.  Or there is another Blimpie with Latin food on 35th btw. 7+8th.

Photo by foodinmouth

• The Grey’s Papaya on 38th & 8th is far superior to Papaya Dog [Food in Mouth]
• Ed Levine agrees.  Grey’s Papaya is one of the ten best hot dogs in NYC [Serious Eats: New York]
• A list of all the great rooftop bars in Midtown [Zagat Buzz]
• Profiled Lunch’er “Janine” put together this list of good summertime bars, and a few are in Midtown [Life With Food and Drink]
• Lunch has been discontinued at L’atelier de Joel Robuchon [Eater]
• Special peanut butter topped brownie from the Treats Truck.  Holy mackerel. [Blondie and Brownie]
• Look at the ice cream sandwiches from Cafe Zaiya! [Salty/Savory/Sweet]

It’s been awhile since the monstrosity known as “The Steak Truck” (on Park & 47th) has been mentioned here on the site.  I was not impressed with their burgers, but the steak is not terrible (especially considering it’s under $10 and comes with sides and a drink.)  They seem to have added a few other things, like a fried chicken cutlet sandwich that looked intriguing- but the thing that caught my eye was the sign in the front window.  Foot long philly-cheese-steak-hero $4.99?  Hello!  Could it be that Magdy’s Steak and Cheese cart one block over, may have some competition?

Anybody try this thing yet?  Feel free to let us know what you thought in the comments…

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.) 

Capri Caffe is a real “Midtown Lunch” Downtown gem of a spot (does that even make sense?) located on 165 Church street between Chambers and Reade. It was recommended by a random guy I met early this week who lives in the area and swears by it. He eats there “once, sometimes twice a day.”  Not sure if he was exaggerating a bit but I had to check this place out.

When I first walked in I got the immediate feeling the dishes were going to be a bit too pricey to fall within the rigorous Midtown Lunch guidelines. Luckily everything seemed to fall under the $10 price cap, like the oh so attractive to me manicotti, which was $8.50.  Toss in the fact that the pasta for that particular dish was made fresh in-house and I was pretty stoked.  I may have even exclaimed “Mama Mia!” but if questioned I’ll deny it.  (It just doesn’t sound that authentic coming out of my New York Jew mouth.) The owners who seem just as authentic as the food will greet you with smiles, wearing their Italian bicycle hats with the fronts turned up. If you ask what’s the best thing to order, you’ll get a confident albeit not surprising “everything is good!”   Read more »

Haven’t done one of these in awhile… here are some of the photos that have been posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Pool:

Photograph by wendalicious

Pop Burgers from Pop Burger (on 58th btw. Madison & 5th). The perfect lunch for when you’re waiting around for a lady selling Indian food on 58th and 5th who never shows up!

Photo by Flooznyc

Mushroom and Cheese crepe from the cart on 50th btw. 6+7th (which is run by the same people who operate the crepe cart on 53rd btw. 5+6th, in front of Moma). They have a pretty decent Argentinian empanada as well. It’s not homemade or anything, but I’ve had worse snacks in Midtown.

Korean food porn, and crispy pork skin after the jump… Read more »